of hendra



BODKIN, NEEDLE, OR THE UKE- APPLICATION FILED APR. 24; I919- Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

PATENT OFFICE.

FELIX LESLIE BENNETT, or KENDRA, NEAEBEISEANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA;

ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF To ARTHUR EDWIN CHARLES, or KENDRA, NEAR BRIS- BANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA.

IBODKIN, NEEDLE, OR THE LIKE.

Application filed April 24,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I FELIX LEsLIE BEN- NETT, a subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, &c., residing at Hendra, near Brisbane, in the State of Queensland, Commonwealth of Australia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bodkins, Needles, or the like; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improved bodkins, or needles, or the like for inserting ribbons, tapes, braids, orother strip or wide material through garments, fabrics, harness, and other articles. Ordinary bodkins and needles have not spring limbs which will hook, and hold under lateral tension, ribbon or other strip material, and hold wide but flimsy strip material flat and smooth during its insertion. Such hooking and holding are desirable, and by the present invention the bodkin or needle has hooks to pass through the ribbon or other strip or wide material, and it has spring arms to tension the material laterally. For brevity this improved article is called an expansion bodkin or needle.

Inthe drawings Figure 1 shows an expansion bodkin in front view, and Fig. 2 shows it in side view, with dotted lines to show a part of it modified. Fig. 3 shows Fig. 2 modified. Fig. 4' ShOWs the bodkin with its spring limbs somewhat compressed together a piece of strip material? being hooked or impaled in place ready for insertion. The tensioning tendency of the limbs is shown by arrows. Dotted lines show a modification of the bodkin head. Fig. 5 shows a needle having spring limbs and hooks. Fig. 6 shows a bodkin holding strip material under tension ready for insertion. Dotted lines show the positions to which parts of the limbs would expand if the strip material were removed. Figs. 7 and 8 show from opposite sides the tail end of a bodkin holding strip material which is wider than the bodkin.

In the case of Figs. 7 and 8 it is supposed that the strip material has had two holes Specification of Letters Patent. 7 Patented Oct. 19, 1920.

1919. Serial No. 292,367.

The bodkin head 1 is in any suitable manner made blunt; 1 shows a head made by coiling a wire partly for strength and to make the limbs springy and 1 (the dotted head) is a modification of the head 1. A needle pointed head is marked 1.

2 and 3 are limbs extending from the head, and diverging either along their whole length or at parts thereof, and having outward spring, the rear of each limb having any suitable hook or loop. Thus 4, 5 are hooks each terminating in a point or tail, which is as shown pointed or sharp as at 6, 7 for puncturing the strip material, but in Fig. 7 the tails '6 7 are blunt and such tails may be knobbed if desired. punched in the strip material 10, are marked 8, 9. The narrower the strip material the closer together the hooks are to be pressed so that they will be in puncturing positions to carry the strip material. r

The spring limbs enable strip materials of various widths to be engaged or hooked as illustrated, whereupon the materials will be tensioned laterally. f

.The hooks are made of smaller cross-sec-. tion. in some cases (as shown at 4", 5) than the main body of limbs 2, 3, and these reduced ends are able to easily make in suitable strip material small holes in many cases in which large holes would not be advisable or practicable.

Hookswill vary in details asto sizes and shapes according to users needs. In some cases they are made detachable from the limbs as exemplified at 49 5 in Fig. 6, where the rear of one spring limb is in section, the hook shank entering a hole 3" in the limb and being made to hold to the limb in any suitable manner, as by being screwed in.

The bodkin may be straight, as in firm lines in Fig. 2; or it may be curved as in Fig. 3, or partly straight and part1 curved, as shown by a combination of firm and dotted lines in Fig. 2, or be modified fur- The holes ther. The needle in Fig. 5 can be used to pierce material which would obstruct a blunt headed bodkin.

An easily entered space is however often provided to receive a ribbon or other strip material, as the slot inside a garment hem, and in such cases a blunt bodkin would be used, so as not to catch in the sides of the slot.

It will be noted that in practically all forms of the device, the fabric receiving loops open from the points of the hooks,

that is, open toward the free end of the bodkin in use. This insures that the fabric be held against possible disconnection from the bodkin, as the fabric is positioned at the bottom of such fabric receiving loop in the drawing operation. The points proper are separated from the fabric receiving loops by an additional loop, that is, there are double loops between each point and the arms of the 'bodkin. This double loop arrangement insures that in applying the device, the hooks will enter the fabric and be passed around the double loops and by this operation will tend to tension the arms to a degree sufficient to prevent disconnection. Furthermore by this double loop arrangement, the hooks are positioned intermediate of the arms and may be extended in the same general direction as the arms. the hooks from projecting beyond the material being drawn by the bodkin.

@rdinarily the bodkin limbs are of wire of round or other cross section as with flat tened sides which can be after the article is purchased further bent or shaped by a user as may be found desirable. If in drawing the bodkin or needle along, with the strip material behind it it is necessary to pass through a place which is narrower than the full width of the strip material, or of the distance between the limbs 2, 3, that can be done by compressing the limbs toward one another at that place, after which the limbs can be allowedto expand, to again tension the material.

It will be obvious that there may be more than one strip impaled and drawn into place in a garment or so on simultaneously;

-in fact a considerable thickness of strip or of combined strips may exist for which This prevents other styles of bodkins do not provide. Again, each tail can have one or more separate strips or pieces of material impaled or en aged on it.

is shown by dotted lines in Fig. 8 the advance corners of specially wide stiff material can be if desired cut off so as to allow the material to enter better the space it has to pass through.

The user of a wire bodkin of the kind described may set the limbs closer together or wider apart and may make the hook tails sharp or blunt at will, to regulate the said parts.

Having described this invention, what is ciaimed by Letters Patent is 1. A bodkin having spring arms, hook terminals arranged between and substantially in the plane of the arms to engage a fabric, said arms being tensioned when the hooks are engaged with the fabric to maintain the fabric spread between the hooks.

2. A bodkin having spring arms, hook erminals arranged between and substantially in the plane of the arms to engage a fabric, said hooks being each formed with a fabric receiving loop opening in a direction away from the point of the hook.

A bo'dkin having spring arms and terminal fabric engaging members arranged between and substantially in the plane of the arms, each of said members having two oppositely-opening loop portions terminating in points.

1-. A bodkin having spring arms with terminal fabric engaging members arranged between and substantially in the plane of the arms, each of said members having free end projection substantially in parallelism with the arm, and a double loop portion between such end and the arm.

5. A bodkin having spring arms with terminal fabric engaging loops provided with piercing points between and in the plane of the loops, the feeding of the material from the points 'onto the loops serving to place the arms under tension to hold the fabric end substantially flat.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand. a

f FELIX LESLIE BENNETT. 

